OMG!!! Am I really even thinking about this??

So DH and I have been going to WDW 1-2 times a year for the past (almost) 1o years. My, how time flies! We love it and plan to go back every year for the rest of our lives. We've always stayed off-site (which we don't really care for) or at the Pop Century because we're very cost conscious. We are celebrating our 7th anniversary this coming January and running the 1/2 marathon. We're trying something new this year and going to rent DVC points to stay at the AKV. We normally like to go for a 5-night trip but this trip will be 7-nights. We're planning on spending $1,300 on our rental + another $1,400 on the dining plan + $1,000 to drive down and take the Autotrain home. This trip is a big splurge for us but we've been planning it for a couple of years.

Well today I started looking at DVC resale. I realized if we scale our trip back in January (not do the dining plan and fly using our SW points instead of drive/train), saved up another $2,000 we could potentially BUY into the DVC! Does this sound right?

Take the $3,700 plus another $2,000 and buy 100 points for $57/point (I know this would take some shopping around or we would need to save another $500 or so).

If we were to do this could we use our newly bought points as soon as January 2014? Aside from the annual dues of about $5-6/point are there any other fees associated with buying resale and DVC ownership? I think I'll have to go do some more research.

I've always assumed we would buy into the DVC eventually. I just never thought that day would actually come. It was always a far-off thing.

Is it crazy to buy before staying at a DVC resort? Is it crazy to 'waste' $1,300 renting points when I could put that towards buying points?

It sounds like you may be a good candidate for DVC, but just realize it really won't save you any money unless you are normally paying rack to stay at deluxe resorts. We feel like DVC has instead given us a better quality vacation as well as made us commit to actually taking vacations (as we all know how life tends to get in the way...we just make it a priority in our budget).

If you are happy staying offsite or in Values, I would suggest renting the points and trying out DVC that way first before tying yourself into a thousands of dollar commitment. You will still need to pay for tickets, airfare, rental cars, food, etc wether you stay DVC or not, so that shouldn't be a huge factor in your decision. Mainly look at the resort side of things. The resale contracts will still be there in a year or two and may even be a few dollars cheaper.

I adore my DVC contracts and so happy I bought in my mid-twenties on our honeymoon or else we probably would not have been able to take our kids as often as we have. However, it definitely is NOT for everyone and it is a huge money commitment on our part every year to pay all the costs associated with our trips, not just the annual dues.

I agree it is a big commitment. I think renting points to sort of try before you buy, is not a bad plan at all.

Like PP said, it won't necessarily save you money, especially if you are satisfied staying at the values. It will get a nicer vacation for your money, if you are comparing prices of mods or deluxes. A DVC purchase should not be rushed into. During your next trip,go & do the DVC tour. But don't buy. Tell them you are thinking about buying maybe in a year or two. Resales will still be around in another year or so, might even be cheaper. In the meantime, stick around, read these forums. Ask questions & learn all about DVC before you lay out a bunch of money.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards App, please excuse any typos or autocorrects!

If you buy a resale now it would take about 2 months to go through. You could book your Jan 2014 stay around April 7 or so and that is 9 months out which is well before the 7 month window. You should be ok with booking (marathon time is a bit of a peak time for DVC, but 9 months out isn't bad at all). I get what you are saying about putting the cash WDW resort stay money towards a DVC contract that you'd be able to use every year. We bought into DVC in 2006 after just 2 trips to WDW (one staying off site and the other staying at POR). We bought OKW points via resale because they were the cheapest to buy. We have 3 kids and the villas are a good fit for us (separate master and a washer and dryer are very important to us...kitchen is nice but not used much)...if we didn't have DVC, we would have to rent a condo/townhouse off-site (like we did the 1st trip) and I HATE staying off-site and driving into the parks every day. I also feel more WDW magic when staying on property.

By the way- we took the autotrain back from a Disney cruise in 2007 (to Maryland...well I think N. VA and then we drove home from there). It was god-awful. We were all 5 crammed into a little cabin...crammed into teeny tiny bunks and it was loud and bumpy/rough all through the night. We had no TV or internet or anything to occupy our time with. It was worse than driving IMO. And we even paid big bucks to do it...could have flown for just a tad bit more money (we did book it at the last minute though).

Thanks everyone. I think I need to slow down and shelve this for a week or so. "Proceed with Caution"

RE: money and the values. We're cheap by nature not really all that necessary. We just really enjoy getting a good deal and will naturally gravitate towards the cheapest option. These days though we are starting to value the experience more and are looking for more comfort. Basically I think we're growing out of the Values. On our last trip I kept feeling like the Pop and AoA were too bight, loud and 'cheap' looking. I have a feeling that after our AKV stay in January we'll not want to go back to the Pop.

Here's a random question: Are the carpets at the deluxe resorts nicer than the ones at the Values? The Pop carpets seem really thin to me.

When do you typically travel? The reason I ask is because it may have an impact on your "savings". Here's what I am talking about...

We have two young children, ages 7 and 9. When we bought DVC in 2008, our intention was never to take them out of school for vacation. We plan to take a majority of our vacations over spring break which is always the first week of April. When that falls over Easter, we are travelling over a period where resort discounts typically are non-existent and rack rates are at their highest. So, I compared our cost for our DVC stay to what it would have cost to stay at Pop Century. Using this April as an example...

March 31-April 5 (5 nights) at Pop Century: $1012.50

Now, same dates at AKV (Our home resort) where we own 100 points. I would be using 100 banked points from last year + 51 points from this year.

Bought in 2008 for $9200....4900 points remaining in contract = $1.89 per point for initial buy in...I'll round it to $2.00 for simplicity.

So, it would cost us an extra $125 to stay at AKV instead of Pop Century. We have a small contract and we are a family of 4 so I typically split our stay and start out in a studio and then move to a 1BR. If we did the entire 5 nights in a studio, we would save money. It would be 100 points ($200 buy-in + $544 in 2012 MF's = $744!)

If you would be traveling during the holiday season and you are OK with staying in studios, them DVC can definitely save you money. In this case, you'd save about $300.

Of course, the numbers can shift (drastically) the other way when Disney starts offering discounts off their off-peak rates. You really need to crunch the numbers to see what works for you.

When do you typically travel? The reason I ask is because it may have an impact on your "savings". Here's what I am talking about...

We have two young children, ages 7 and 9. When we bought DVC in 2008, our intention was never to take them out of school for vacation. We plan to take a majority of our vacations over spring break which is always the first week of April. When that falls over Easter, we are travelling over a period where resort discounts typically are non-existent and rack rates are at their highest. So, I compared our cost for our DVC stay to what it would have cost to stay at Pop Century. Using this April as an example...

March 31-April 5 (5 nights) at Pop Century: $1012.50

Now, same dates at AKV (Our home resort) where we own 100 points. I would be using 100 banked points from last year + 51 points from this year.

Bought in 2008 for $9200....4900 points remaining in contract = $1.89 per point for initial buy in...I'll round it to $2.00 for simplicity.

So, it would cost us an extra $125 to stay at AKV instead of Pop Century. We have a small contract and we are a family of 4 so I typically split our stay and start out in a studio and then move to a 1BR. If we did the entire 5 nights in a studio, we would save money. It would be 100 points ($200 buy-in + $544 in 2012 MF's = $744!)

If you would be traveling during the holiday season and you are OK with staying in studios, them DVC can definitely save you money. In this case, you'd save about $300.

Of course, the numbers can shift (drastically) the other way when Disney starts offering discounts off their off-peak rates. You really need to crunch the numbers to see what works for you.

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Great way to evaluate cost...thanks for posting that!

Let me try it with my MIL and FIL's booking for this coming Xmas (used our OKW points to book). Dates: 12/20-25, Alternate resort: All Star Sports is $994.40, Bought OKW 200 points in 2006 for $73/point= $14,400, we will have received 7200 points over the time we have the contract until expiration= exactly $2/point, inlaws resie is 1BR at OKW for 142= $284, add on MF for 142 points= $758.28.....so $284+$758.28= $1042.28...not bad to get a nice 1BR at OKW instead of a standard room at All Star Sports for just $48 more.

We also have 75 HH points closed on the contract in January of 2012 and figured we paid $1.67/point for life of contract. And we're adding on 100 AKV points right now and figure we will pay $1.47/point for life of that contract.

Thanks everyone. DH and I are going to talk about this. We like to travel in January and will sometimes go in October (for the F&WF and MNSSHP) and/or April (for the Flower and Garden Festival). We have never been for Christmas but have always wanted to. I can see us doing a week long trip in January 1 year, then 2 smaller trips in Oct and April the next year - alternating back and forth.

Thanks everyone. DH and I are going to talk about this. We like to travel in January and will sometimes go in October (for the F&WF and MNSSHP) and/or April (for the Flower and Garden Festival). We have never been for Christmas but have always wanted to. I can see us doing a week long trip in January 1 year, then 2 smaller trips in Oct and April the next year - alternating back and forth.

It is just the two of us, no children. A studio or 1-bedroom is fine.

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OK, I'll try a quick number breakdown...

First, I am looking at real numbers using a 160-pt AKV resale currently offered at $10,400 + closing costs. The total for 45 years of points breaks down to $1.51/point for the buy-in. It is a December UY with all 2012 points available.

In up economies its great - Disney isn't handing out discounts, people aren't getting codes in the mail - DVC is the best deal out there.

In down economies, everyone else is getting free dining. AP discounts are plentiful and hefty. Disney puts out a deal where you buy three days and stay for seven - hotel and park passes. Codes are distributed like candy at a 4th of July parade.

And the DVC boards light up with "why don't we get deals?!!!!"

With DVC the deal is that you pay a lot of money up front and then get a decent value for a very long time. But the adrenaline boost of that deal doesn't last over the term. And six years in it can be hard to hear about someone's great code that is going to let them get a "free" bounceback trip and thinking "I never get a deal on points."

I've said this many time here - "know thyself." For some people DVC is an awesome value. And for some its a exercise in frustration - and simply running the numbers isn't enough for anyone to predict which group you'll fall into.

First, I am looking at real numbers using a 160-pt AKV resale currently offered at $10,400 + closing costs. The total for 45 years of points breaks down to $2.31/point for the buy-in. It is a December UY with all 2012 points available.

DVC is a lifestyle, there are rules, regulations, and policies. You pay dues for everything and Disney decides what everything is. They control housekeeping, maintenance and when the resorts and rooms are updated.

They decide what the different room views are and how many points you need to stay there.

With cash guests IMO Disney tends work a little harder to keep the guests happy and coming back. With DVC they don't have to because you have to come back or you forfeit your points.

Owning can be a cost savings compared to staying at the deluxe resorts and you can save additional money buy eating in your room. A DDP food bill of $1000 can be reduced to $200 by eating in.

Also, they have and do realign the points charts on occassion. They actually just did this a few years ago. The biggest thing they did was to make Sun-Thurs nights a little more expensive but lowered the price of weekend points. It actually ended up being a disadvantage to us because of the way we travel. Typically we fly in late on a Friday and stay offsite for Friday and Saturday night to save points. Then check in Sun-Sat at DVC so we only had to pay expensive weekend points for 1 night. We still do this schedule now as it makes the most sense for our family, but the points have gone up for the same stay during the same DVC season. Others may benefit though if you take a lot of long weekend type trips. Just be aware that they will reallocate the points charts occassionly and you may not got as good a deal then as you thought.

The only thing I will add is that finding a contract for $57 for 100 points is very difficult. I have been trying to buy a 100 point AKL contract for over a year now at $63-65 per point and I keep getting turned down. I am feeling frustrated!

The only thing I will add is that finding a contract for $57 for 100 points is very difficult. I have been trying to buy a 100 point AKL contract for over a year now at $63-65 per point and I keep getting turned down. I am feeling frustrated!

Good luck deciding, it's a hard decision!

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I am in ROFR on 100 point AKV. They listed it for $69 and took $66. Someone on the ROFR thread went to ROFR the same day as I did on another 100 point AKV contract and they also are paying $66/point but they even got the seller to pay the 2013 MF (I tried to get that too...or for them to pay closing, but no luck).

I am in ROFR on 100 point AKV. They listed it for $69 and took $66. Someone on the ROFR thread went to ROFR the same day as I did on another 100 point AKV contract and they also are paying $66/point but they even got the seller to pay the 2013 MF (I tried to get that too, but no luck).

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Yeah, I have been offering higher recently because I have been trying for so long. Unfortunately now I am dealing with bad customer service from a couple of the resale companies and am feeling a little discouraged.